Fans of detective Charlie Chan's suspenseful mysteries and fortune cookie wisdom
will find joy as they dodge bullets with some of the Chinese policeman's most
thrilling and dangerous cases. A staple of 30s and 40s Hollywood, Charlie Chan's
profound wit and lighthearted counsel in the face of the criminal element has
made him a cinematic icon, transcending generations and stereotypes to become
one of film's most beloved crime-solvers. Four of Charlie Chan's most-ingenious
cases make their DVD debut in The Charlie Chan Collection “Volume Four“
starring the 'successor' Sidney Toler.

Titles

Charlie Chan in Honolulu
(1938) - Although immortality is almost the last thing we would expect of a
Chinese detective, Charlie Chan appears to have swallowed the elixir. He has
survived the death of his author, Earl Derr Biggers, and now, with Sidney Toler
in the title role, seems capable of getting along without his screen creator,
Warner Oland. "Charlie Chan in Honolulu," at the Central, is practically
a letter-perfect duplicate of all the other Chan films—beginning with the body
on the floor and ending with Charlie saying "thank you so much" to the snarling
killer. It is the usual, red-herring scented, passably diverting mystery film.

Charlie Chan in Reno
(1939) - Still pursuing his profitable homicide line, Charlie Chan cracks
another murder case wide open in "C. C. in Reno," latest of the seemingly
endless series, which opened at the Globe yesterday. Although the divorce colony
provides a new backdrop, the props are unchanged and the routine is the same.
Not that we blame Chan for refusing to alter his style: he hasn't lost a killer
yet. Still there is a certain monotony about his final tableaux: the roomful of
suspects, the pounce upon the least suspicious member of the cast, the
astonishing disclosure of the telltale bit of evidence, the murderer's snarled
or sheepish admission of guilt.

Charlie Chan at Treasure
Island (1939) - Unless Twentieth Century-Fox soon decides to put a halt to
Charlie Chan's activities, there won't be a supporting cast left intact in all
Hollywood. Chan (currently operating at the Palace on San Francisco's "Treasure
Island") appears to be irrevocably committed, in his murder-solving pursuits, to
the Frank Buck technique with this minor variation: where Mr. Buck stakes out a
bleating goat and brings the tiger back alive, Chan stakes out members of his
supporting cast and brings 'em back dead. By this simple process of elimination
he usually gets his murderer, but the incidental carnage is never short of
terrific.

Charlie Chan in City in
Darkness (1939) - In this episode of the popular detective series, Chan
attends a WW I reunion in Paris. While catching up with his buddies, he gets
entangled in the investigation of the murder of a munitions maker who sent arms
to the other side. The film was created in response to the Munich crisis of
1938. At the film's end Charlie delivers a stern warning about bargaining at
conference tables.

NOTE: Although the
main features of this boxset are housed in individual keep cases (see
images below) they are not sold separately at this time and can only be
obtained in the Fox Charlie Chan Collection Volume 4 Boxset. They
have been transferred in the NTSC standard, coded for Region 1 with
original mono audio or optional stereo with removable subtitles in English, French or Spanish. All are single layered except Charlie Chan in Honolulu which is
dual layered.

Image: These transfers look the best of all the Fox
Chan Series in my opinion. Fabulous contrast and greyscale with only
hints of noise (more in darker scenes). Digital
restoration (Fox spent over $2 million restoring all of their Chan and
Mr. Moto films)
greatly appears to have benefited the appearance of these four
Toler-Chan films. Even though only 1 of the 4 are dual-layered they
still look exceptionally strong considering their age. I continued my
love affair with this vintage cinema. The films in this boxset continue
to export the charismatic Chan philosophy - and Toler does a marvelous job replacing
Warner Oland.

Audio - Decent with very minimal
hiss (no dropouts or pops) and overall dialogue remains consistent and clear.
I sampled both the mono and stereo with only a marginal difference -
both exported the dialogue and track of the 4 films competently.
Comparatively speaking it may be a at about the same level as the video quality
- it is usually that strong.

Extras - Only one commentary in this package Ken Hanke - Film Critic;
John Cork - Film Historian on Treasure Island. There is also some very complete
featurettes and documentaries - any level of fan will be content. There are also
stills galleries and restoration comparisons. Excellent job Fox - some real
detail and passion went into the supplements.

Well,
with the Warner Oland cycle completed after Vol. 3 this 'introduction' to Toler
continues the same enjoyable retreats from the troubles of our modern world. I
LOVED them all and sank quickly and deeply into my zone of comfort-ability while
watching and, I, as usual, only wish there were more films in the package. Tack
onto the great films, incredible looking image and strong audio - extensive supplements.
This is an easy must-own for fans of Chan, the series or just vintage cinema at
its finest.